


inferno, inferno

by damnneovelvet



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Inspired by Promare, Light Angst, Lovers To Enemies, M/M, Past Relationships, Polyamory, Post-Apocalypse, Sci-Fi, Villains, Violence, johnmarkhyuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26048125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damnneovelvet/pseuds/damnneovelvet
Summary: "Of all people, I expected you to understand," He walks closer and picks up his helmet. He brushes the visor with scalding fingers. He bleeds but no drops fall to the ground, just evaporate into the air and form a brown crust on his injuries, "you were the selfish one, always. Now it's my turn to be selfish, John. Let me have my peace."
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 19
Kudos: 72





	inferno, inferno

**Author's Note:**

> This is a remix from the starting scenes of a much longer outline, crunched into the least amount of words possible.  
> This is different from whatever I've attempted before (in true experimental fashion) so take it in stride please :D Not edited!
> 
> The promare ost is absolutely amazing. Sawano Hiroyuki did it again. I wrote this listening to the main theme (that tin whistle is stuck in my head).
> 
> I don't get to wax poetic about Johnny here but imagine he's hot, sexy and muscled up.
> 
> tw : fire, violence, mentions of past death, implied sexual content, blood, one mention of disease and alcohol.

Trails of fire

You always knew

They would carry me home

They'd lead me to you

△

The thin layer of antipyretic material on Johnny's body used to itch when he first started wearing it to emergency sites, but now it feels like a second skin. He tugs at a fold near his pelvis. It smacks back like elastic and the fabric flattens out. 

He toes the rugged grey on top of the fire truck with his boot. Behind him, the emergency vehicle lights blare blue and red, accompanied by a shrill siren. The sound dies out as the front of the truck starts humming. A circular platform unfolds and vibrates with the strength of the springs attached beneath it. It's been activated.

He decides to sprint onto the launchpad. There's no way he's going to be catapulted to the top of a skyscraper floundering like a newbie. He's been in the business for years and he has a reputation to live up to.

"Ready?" The earbud crackles to life, Kun's voice droning through. "Launch at countdown, are you equipped?"

"Two cryorays," he replies. He stretches his arms overhead and glimpses at the scene. All the emergency building fire hydrants have been spraying jets of water endlessly -- sprinkles of the water fall onto the bystanders -- but the flames refuse to be fought. They flicker back to life and engulf the higher floors of the building. 

"Okay, if you think you need -- "

"Just get to it," he answers, good-naturedly despite the chaos in front of his eyes, "I won't need help, but just in case you don't propel me to the right place, prepare a safety net. I wouldn't wanna die hitting the concrete."

There's grumbling, some numbers. Three, two, one.

He launches into motion as the ground buzzes beneath his feet and then he's being forced upwards, the entire platform popping to push him against gravity, his body freezing despite the haze of green flames licking up the glass walls that start to blur as he passes by them. In no time, he's numb. When his vision clears, he's suspended in air for a split second before he's speeding towards ground again. The trajectory running gave him leads him to the centre of the rooftop.

There's a lone figure dressed in a body suit sitting atop a motorcycle, barely a foot from where Johnny's predicted to land. The person -- the cause of this mayhem -- seems unfazed by the impending arrival. 

The helmet turns to look upwards. A black visor reflects light and blinds Johnny as he hurtles onto the rough flooring, broken glass cutting into his arms. The motorcycle engine revs up but Johnny knows he can't let this person get away. The lime green flames, the scent of a thousand skeletons eviscerated. 

The leader of Mad Burnish.

In theory, nobody can face this abomination of nature without being turned into a matchstick. But this is Johnny Suh, who heals faster than planaria can regenerate. As close to immortality as anyone can get.

Johnny pushes on the ground and lunges forward, successfully grabbing and pulling the person with him.

It's hot. It's too hot to touch with his body supplying energy to the fire that eats everything. He tries to reach his cryorays but the other digs the heel of their boot into his shin. Johnny cries out. He tries to one up the enemy with his advantage of a bulkier body. The person freezes before violently wrangling Johnny's torso with their legs. They're trying to escape.

His arms stop grappling and he struggles to hold the scorching heat to him. A body of flames suited in the fiercest black anyone has ever laid eyes on. 

The sudden proximity has forced them to forget they're rolling around on the rooftop of an eighty-two story building, and with every push, every harsh tug at Johnny's hair and every missed kick, they tumble towards the edge, barely balanced.

His grip loosens, sweat slick between their bodies, and Johnny realises his opponent has gotten rid of his gloves in their short struggle. Sharp nails dig into Johnny's collarbone, unexpected, heated. It doesn't feel like anything at first with the throbbing at his knees taking all his attention. When the sting bleeds into his consciousness, he tries throwing his opponent to the side but it doesn't work.

The helmet falls off -- narrowly misses bashing into Johnny's ear -- and then wide doe-shaped eyes stare back at him.

For a second the weight of the world falls off Johnny's shoulders and crumbles into dust, the wind carrying away whatever he doesn't want to carry any longer. 

The expression on the familiar face morphs. The neutrality -- the surprise -- evaporates as he flares, green and violet flames swallowing his figure as his nails dig in further. Johnny can feel the droplets of blood gathering and burning away. 

In another universe -- somewhere the world isn't on fire, somewhere the world has oceans of blue and lighter skies -- those same nails would scratch at his back, screaming and writhing in pleasure, legs stretched open with his name rolling off the tip of two silken tongues, _two_ _silken_ \--

As if the heat emitting from the man across him wasn't enough, Johnny begins to burn on the inside with the intensity of their shared past. Memories of throats rawed with screams crawl out to taunt him, making him recall every minute he has spent clinging onto the last shreds of his life for the past fifteen years. It makes every prospect of peace collapse.

"Donghyuck," he heaves, the pressure about to make his chest cave. The hand at his neck slithers higher, fingers pressing painfully.

"John." The name leaves Donghyuck's mouth, almost spit out with cold rage. 

At the eye of a firestorm, Johnny steels himself as he pushes against Donghyuck, arms scarred but strong. Even as they exchange another round of blows -- the hardened skin of human immortality defeating the blaze of a burnish -- they know that the destruction they leave in their wake is the result of their hollowness.

As the world burns down to ashes, there's a third name both of them hurt too much to speak, a voice they would die to hear.

△

Life before the Great Blaze was simple. 

Simpler than this, to put it into perspective, but three grown men in a loving relationship always seemed to spur more gossip than necessary. Johnny liked to think they didn't understand -- and he was right -- and that it didn't matter. He had two angels in his life. 

Like most love stories, theirs began at a café near university. One meeting, then another, then they were close friends and since the Cupid has no control over his arrows, love works in mysterious ways. Sometimes, it just wants what it wants. 

For Johnny, Mark and Donghyuck, the world was triangular and that was perfect.

Falling in love with Mark came as easy as the earth revolving around the sun. His pink hair, always heated to a crisp, and wide eyes full of curiosity. His lips, thin but always smiling, painted the same shade of pink as his hair. Johnny would see pieces of himself in Mark, their difficulties and the harder choices they had made in life. It was difficult to not like him and Johnny has always been weak for boys who love ogling at his own built body.

Donghyuck came in like a cannonball, loud but bright. His eccentricities, his wit, the sheer amount of love that little body held -- it's difficult for Johnny to imagine it now, but there were times only Donghyuck could understand how he felt. A soothing presence, a smile worth winning the world for. 

Johnny Suh, 26 and still stumbling over past mistakes to find the best of humanity, fell in love with two beautiful men. 

The most surprising thing was that they fell for each other, and just as much as they wanted to be together, they also wanted Johnny.

He tried to be a better person for them and made the most of every minute he had. There is a lot he can't defend himself for, but he never lacked when it came to them. Being the eldest of them always brought a sense of responsibility, which he was committed to, no question, something softer welling in his chest every time any of them turned in bed to snuggle deeper into his arms. His bleak life had two scintillating stars right at the centre and he would never let go of them.

There were sweet cinema dates, there were passionate dinner nights. So much heartbreak and so much affection all stuffed into the cramped space of their apartment. They always believed nothing could ever separate them.

And then the Great Blaze happened.

The day mutants -- the burnish they called themselves -- appeared everything in the world fell apart. Innocent people lost their lives to the uncontrollable infernos that birthed from people unaware. Governments began to fall and everyone ran in fear of their lives. 

But Mark Lee -- a godsend, a ray of calm in the mess -- believed they could make it through if they stayed together. A sprinkle of dedication, sticking to the rules like superglue to skin, and everything would be fine.

Because a burnish had evolved amongst their nest of three.

△

Johnny's fist collides with Donghyuck's -- sparks fly out from where their knuckles are rubbed thin -- and the impact pulls them apart.

"Didn't expect to see _you_ here," Donghyuck sneers. A thick cloud of lighting starts accumulating overhead.

"Likewise," Johnny says, pulling out both of his cryorays and taking a clean stance to aim them right where it matters most. In the middle of Donghyuck's chest where a heart -- supposedly more humane than a spitball of fire -- beats.

"You sure that's gonna work?" It's sinister the way those heart-shaped lips stretch into a smirk. 

Johnny tries but doesn't remember when he had the freedom to kiss those lips. Faintly, he thinks out of the three of them Donghyuck was the one who moaned loudest whenever he was kissed. His eyes would be dazed, prettily, beautifully, nothing like the madness that runs rampant right now. He's no longer the handsome-cute boyfriend they had. 

He's a maniac. The harsh set of his jaw and hollow cheeks make Johnny flinch. It strengthens the belief that Donghyuck's no longer the man they once knew.

"Even if it doesn't, we will take you down." Johnny wonders if he's still connected to Kun.

"We…" Donghyuck hisses, "still a firefighter? What makes you so sure you can take down Mad Burnish?" His fingertips sizzle where he hunches over, knees hitting the ground. 

"We will, even if it's the last thing we do." 

"Take your best shot, and I'll take mine." Donghyuck says. The building shakes under them.

△

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so fucking much. It's been years. It's not the first time he's seeing Donghyuck in the fifteen years since the Great Blaze but it's still been an infinite stretch of time since Johnny's really seen him. 

They've crossed paths before. The last time was just two years ago, right where there's glass memorials built for those who burnt away. In the aftermath, there was nothing but ashes. There was no way of telling whether you were walking on the remains of plants, singed concrete or even someone's bones. Johnny could have been breathing Mark and he would never know.

He sees Donghyuck once every few years, when the younger is stable enough to be let out of his treatment chamber. Both of them walk side by side, shoulders refusing to brush together as they pull their coats closer to their bodies. 

Johnny knows that Donghyuck is a powerful burnish. That is the reason why they're here today, in a whirlwind of uncertainty and pain. Donghyuck knows that Johnny is destined to remain untouched by these unnatural flames, had known it even when they'd lived together in a small apartment, had known it when they made love and even when they tiptoed around each other when Mark had been forced to pull them back together. 

They know they blame each other as much as they blame themselves, which is why they don't speak more than necessary. They know the lack of a single grey hair on their scalps is unnatural. Yet they've never questioned it. 

They look at each other with shame, in barely disguised resentment, and walk away once the memorial prayers are finished. 

Even then, this madness had been absent. Or does he just know how to disguise everything? The magnitude of this fire proves Donghyuck had been lying about the freeze treatment all along. To think Johnny was nearly ready to finally forgive him.

Despite everything, it's still difficult to digest the fact it was an accident. 

Johnny couldn't count the number of times he'd returned home to little things on fire. Sometimes the rug would be burning, sometimes it would be the curtains and once, Donghyuck managed to melt down a window. As soon as the occurrences increased Johnny decided to stick to Donghyuck closely at all times.

Back then, when the three of them used to cuddle under a cooling blanket with glasses of strong alcohol in their hands, anything seemed possible. 

Johnny has always been adventurous. However, with the world falling apart he should have been the responsible one. He loved them both, he loves the brighter memories he has of them -- picnics in the university garden, road trips in the middle of the night and skinny dipping at the beach.

Helplessness can charr everything it touches. It devours even the strongest of men when fate seems hellbent on bringing calamity after calamity. 

Johnny had never felt insecure until he saw people crying over their dead ones where he fought the fires. He'd never feared the possibilities Donghyuck kept hidden, simmering beneath the barrier of love. Not until every second mouth spoke ill of the burnish. Johnny would see the lick of a fever too hot to be human whenever he would hold Donghyuck down in the sheets and shudder.

Mark, poor Mark, he would spend days working outside to bring home whatever he could.

There would be night shifts and afternoon shifts at shelters, then there would be church services for those who clung onto faith, then repairs, fire hydrant installations, you name it and Mark would be working there. His hair would frizzle with the heat outside and his face would colour like a burnt cherry but he wouldn't stop.

City restrictions meant nothing when he was at the verge of losing the people he loved most. 

He just wouldn't stop, not even when he would be lost to some unknown world every time he had a moment to breathe.

Selflessness must be a disease. 

Because that's what killed Mark. 

Overworking himself, hopping from road to road salvaging everything he could. Johnny has one regret in life and it is to have believed that the benefit of the masses came before the benefit of his home.

Where Johnny would have been the best option to keep Donghyuck from withering away until they had enough resources to hospitalise him, Mark threw away his exhaustion. He would work himself open and fuck himself on Donghyuck till they ran out of energy. Other times he was fucking Donghyuck, and then again till Donghyuck was loose-limbed, no more than jelly. He learnt how to cook from the leftovers in their broken refrigerator and fed Donghyuck before he could eat himself.

Mark would sell every single organ in his body if it meant Johnny and Donghyuck would be able to go somewhere the explosions of unstable outsiders wouldn't touch them.

All it took was one fight. One heated exchange between Johnny and Donghyuck. 

Johnny stepped out to volunteer in a different city only to come back to an apartment swept by billowing flames. 

Donghyuck had burst. Mark's body, like everything else that made their lives seem normal, had disintegrated. He'd died trying to take care of Donghyuck alone, and Johnny would never forget this.

△

A large crunch sends Johnny tumbling onto the floor, gritting his teeth to keep from screaming. He's certain his wrist is nearly crushed with the impact from Donghyuck's foot.

"Why, why are you Mad Burnish?" Johnny shouts, sweating mingling with blood as it drips down the side of his face.

" _Why_?" Donghyuck's eyes buzz an electric colour, "because I'm a burnish. If I can't die...If I can't die I will be the villain everyone needs."

"What the fuck are you on about?!" Johnny says. The pain hasn't hit in full swing yet but his breath is getting heavier by the minute. If he doesn't get back-up now, Donghyuck will kill him. 

"Of all people, I expected you to understand," He walks closer and picks up his helmet. He brushes the visor with scalding fingers. He bleeds but no drops fall to the ground, just evaporate into the air and form a brown crust on his injuries, "you were the selfish one, always. Now it's my turn to be selfish, John. Let me have my peace."

It's insane. Donghyuck has gone insane and Johnny wants to stand up to grab him by the collar but his legs won't move anymore. He's been defeated by a man who would never propagate violence a decade ago. This man...he would apologize if he left scratches on Johnny's back and kiss Mark's bruises reverently. Who is this, who the fuck is this --

"Do you think that will bring Mark back?"

It takes everything within Johnny to say his name out loud. It's been years but the ache never lessens.

Donghyuck goes rigid, one leg hovering over his motorcycle.

"It's been more than ten years. He's not coming back. My fire killed him, so what are you trying to do now? Bring me back to being human -- " Johnny stops breathing because he knows what's coming next " -- because you were the one who said I should be what I am. A monster. So what now? Afraid because your immortality stands tested?" He laughs. Donghyuck roars, high-pitched, all teeth visible till he doesn't have even the ghost of a smile on his face anymore.

He pulls on his helmet, and there's a conflagration bursting to swallow all existence around them. The haze gets to Johnny and his vision starts becoming bleary.

"Next time, John. We'll end this once and for all."

"Johnny!" It's Kun, the connection is stable again. "Jump. Fall off the edge, we have a safety net below -- "

Johnny takes in a deep breath, his chest expanding as if it had never felt air before, and rolls to the edge, falling freely as he loses consciousness. 

In the distance, he hears an engine ignite, and there's more. There's more whirring and crashing -- All of Mad Burnish. 

Donghyuck -- in his mind, he sees a head of caramel hair leaning on a hard shoulder, pink hair and lips finding sunshine -- has grown to become a true monster. 

△

Normally, Johnny heals. 

The aftermath of the attack was horrible to deal with. All of Mad Burnish showed up and the fire department lost ten fresh recruits.

Kun is left baffled when the burns on Johnny's abdomen refuse to fade away. The skin there stays crisp and fragile, the layers beneath glaring with agony, as if they want to be covered up but can't. There's a thin scar running right near the top of such a burn, and it's dangerous because it looks like there's fat leaking out.

He rushes to the cryochamber, hoping they'll have some of that ice-9 in store. It's cold, deathly so when he's prepped and disinfected before being put into extra heavy PPE. 

There is no guarantee that Johnny's burns will stitch up. He might have to perform a skin graft and keep trying to cauterize the sound as far as he can without damaging other tissue. It's tricky. People caught by the burnish rarely make it back and if they do, they're dead before they have any hopes of being resuscitated.

On his way to the storage racks, he almost slips on the floor when he bumps into someone.

"Taeyong! What are you doing here?"

Taeyong, equally covered, hands occupied with what look like massive blocks of purplish ice, answers back in a muffled voice.

"We managed to secure some... questionable things from the last raid. You remember that underground society we've been trying to break into?"

"The one that claimed to have people frozen from before the Great Blaze?" Kun asks.

Taeyong nods -- or at least seems to be nodding, going by the crinkles moving on his suit, "We discovered a lot of old food and some documents, some IDs...but," his voice drops to a whisper, "we found people too, around five of them."

"What the fuck?" Kun screams too loudly, his own ears ringing.

"Keep it down. The higher ups don't want anyone knowing yet, do you wanna see -- "

"I actually -- "

" -- He's the last one we got." Taeyong points behind a thick metal wall and pulls Kun along. Kun sends Johnny a quick apology, promising to run back if it makes him reach quicker.

There, proposed against the vault door, stands a massive block of ice. Special ice, the sort that doesn't feel as frigid as it actually is, he recalls, the sort used for cryopreservation.

Embedded inside, he sees a boy. High cheekbones, frizzled pink and black hair, blue lips and scorched skin.

**Author's Note:**

> :D This isn't anything like I've tried before, and before going on a short break from writing, this made me happy. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
